£15m innovation boost for UK manufacturers

Posted on 10 May 2016 by Victoria Fitzgerald

Innovate UK has up to £15 million to invest in projects that support innovation in manufacturing and materials and lead to improvements in productivity, competitiveness and growth.

Innovate UK will fund innovative projects that look at supporting new technologies or production processes across the sector.

All projects must be led by a business and involve at least one SME – projects led by a SME will be particularly welcomed.

The competition opens on May 9 and the deadline for applications is July 13.

There will be a briefing day for potential applicants in London on May 23.

An additional briefing events will be held on May 26 in the West Midlands, and Manchester on May 27.

Find out more about the competition and apply here.

This is the first of Innovate UK’s new simplified sequence of competitions where each of the organisation’s four key sectors offer two broad competitions in each sector a year, alongside two ‘open’ competitions for applications from any sectors.

The organisation’s four key sectors include; manufacturing and materials; emerging and enabling technologies; health and life sciences, and infrastructure systems.

Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson commented: “The UK is a global leader in many areas of specialist manufacturing, and we are committed to supporting industry to grow, develop innovative ideas and boost productivity.

“This £15m competition is a milestone in our approach to support large and small companies, as well as researchers to get their ideas off the drawing board.”

Manufacturing and Materials Director at Innovate UK, Simon Edmonds said: “This new £15m competition offers a real opportunity for UK businesses, particularly SMEs, to grow and become more productive.

“Innovate UK is determined to help grow UK manufacturing supply chains through innovation in areas where there is high-growth potential, such as digital manufacturing, materials integration and industrial biotechnology.”